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Readers from China react to BBC access

Web users from China have sent their response to the news that the BBC News website has been unblocked after years of strict control by the Beijing government.

We were just discussing with some of our Chinese colleagues about the fact BBC website was blocked, went onto to show them and we see this latest news. Excellent news!!!!!Ross Brown, Jimo, Qingdao, Shandong Province

I can read the BBC website on a normal internet cafe computer

Gudrun Gallhoff, Qingdao, Shandong province

I am in China. I read the BBC News website for learning English everyday. But I often find that the stories about China diverge widely from the truth. Why?Xie Huai, Zhengzhou China

This is great news. As a Brit living in China there are many websites that we are blocked from seeing here (the BBC and Wikipedia being my personal biggest frustrations). Previously people have had to find ways to bypass these restrictions but it's nice to be able to access the BBC (though not Wikipedia at the time of writing) legitimately now.Adrian Osmond, Jinan, China

Not the first time. I'm a student in Tsinghua University, and it is easier to read foreign websites here. It's faster today. Liu Mengze, Beijing

Having lived in China for a year-and-a-half, today is the first time I have been able to access the BBC website without a proxy server. I am excited to have my long-blocked "homepage" back and curious to see how long the blockage remains lifted. Periodic blockages of youtube, cbc.ca (I am Canadian) and CNN are not uncommon, but have never, in my experience lasted longer than a couple of weeks. It will be interesting to see how long access to BBC news will remain (relatively) unrestricted. Glad to have you back!Chantal J, Dalian, China

You BBC should know better about China. 99.99% people in China feel happy and safe, you just report the 0.01% protestors, troublemakers and make the trouble even worse. What's your purpose? Yes, people in China should know voices from foreign countries and constructive criticism. But NOT the spiteful comments on the Communist Party or anything political. The reporters in China should learn more about Chinese social life, furthermore about Chinese culture. It is not complete just to explain things in your pre-formed point of view. Chinese society works better in our own way. Just like Chinese medicine has been working so well and better without learning from western medicine.John Zheng, Shandong, China

I am a regular BBC World Service listener. I am currently in China and can confirm that I can read the BBC website on a normal internet cafe computer. I was told by other people that this was not so only a week ago.
Regards, Gudrun GallhoffGudrun Gallhoff, Qingdao, Shandong province

This is my third visit to China in the last six months. I'm working out here doing management training for Chinese management consultants and have been able to view the BBC News website since last Tuesday. The best thing is that I can now get Test Match Special! All the news about disturbances in other parts of China has been interesting to read, but to be honest, no-one that I'm working with seems particularly bothered about it. BBC World TV news is still being blacked out when sensitive items come on, but the Hardtalk programme showing the interview with the senior government official was shown in full yesterday without any interruptions. Jeremy Webster, Aylesbury (Bucks) but now in Beijing

Even stories about Tibet are now accessible

This is my second time in China and I was just getting used to the lack of BBC. It's great to have it back, and hopefully this will mean the BBC cut down on some of their tit-for-tat anti-China reports. It's the BBC's duty to report the facts, but every positive headline is invariably followed by a 'but'. It would now be nice to see a more 'human' approach to the country, instead of it largely being portrayed as a regimented, cold Communist machine.Owen Pile, Pizhou, Jiangsu, China

BBC news definitely had been blocked previously by the Chinese government. I have been in China for nearly a year now and I have almost never been able to read any news on BBC - there were one or two occassions whereby I managed to get onto the front page, then I clicked on any news article and the server would lead me to a page saying that there's been an error with the link or address. If I were to hop over to Hong Kong, the connection to BBC works immediately like a breeze and it felt like I just got out of a prison. I am almost so used to the 'imprisonment' that I am somewhat surprised I can actually get BBC news now. Talk about basic human rights. A Ong, Shenzhen, China

For me it wouldn't really matter, but I do feel very disappointed for the Western media to have biased reporting on the Tibetan riot, so I really do understand why most western websites have been blocked.Kai Hin Yung, Beijing

That is correct, I have lived here since 1990, I only found out by accident a few days ago after being blocked for years, no restrictions, can read all.Sadelsor, Dongguan City China

All I want to say is the civilians know few news about the outbreaks of unrest in Tibet. That's the truth. The Chinese government always covers the truth about some things that may cause some negative feelings in the crowd. But I think people who live in the country have the right to know the truth! HE, China

I'm currently in Shanghai, on an exchange from Manchester University to East China Normal University. We hadn't been able to connect to the BBC website (which I do everyday in England) and it was quite a surprise when two days ago I was able to connect to the site - and especially to read the stories about Tibet! I even watched Kate Adie's footage of Tiananmen Square - I was in an internet cafe and it felt very very strange - I turned my monitor and kept checking who was watching. Very interesting experience!David Firth, Manchester, UK

I was a regular visitor to BBC website when I was living in Singapore. I am now happy to be able to access the BBC website in China. However I am extremely unhappy with the western media's one dimensional coverage of the recent events in Tibet. In this respect, the BBC is also guilty and has compromised its normal high standard of reporting without biasFok Wing Chau, Guangzhou, China

I noticed several days ago that stories in the Times and Telegraph related to the current events in Tibet were no longer being restricted. A friend in the UK sent me a link this article. Any website with news.bbc has been inaccessible up until now. I first came to China back in 2003 and this is the first time I've been able to access it. Interestingly Youtube is also accessible again. If I was you, I'd brace yourself (and your servers) for a deluge of pro-Chinese posts on your websites by angry Chinese. And maybe you should start posting less biased articles about the situation in Tibet.
Mike Gow, Beijing, China

The BBC News website has always been my favourite news source for many years and I am happy that today I can finally access it here in mainland ChinaSam Deniro, Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, China

It's my first time reading the BBC News website.Rita, Beijing

I've had access to the website for about a week which has been great! The BBC has been my homepage for ages, on arrival here 7 months ago I didn't change it in the hope that one day I'd go online and have access. It's a really interesting time to allow it here, especially as there's been such a backlash within the Chinese press and online forums about foreign journalists apparently 'misreporting' the unrest in Tibet. Really good news though and I hope this means a lifting of the great firewall in the near future. R Davis, Suzhou, China

I haven't read BBC News website before and this is my first time to read it. So I don't know whether the website are available or not before. But it is quite good to know it is available now. After I read some reports about China, I feel a little bit uncomfotable. Maybe as an Chinese I will feel ill when I read something bad about our country, even those things are not written aiming to criticise. But it also surprises me that China has caught such attention from the world. I am proud to be a Chinese, and I also know there are still many problems to be solved in our country. But I think China is developing and improving all the time. She just needs some time to be more mature, more strong, more open to the world. I am confident in our country.Emma, Guangzhou

Any progress towards more free sharing of information is good, but I cannot help wonder if it will continue after the Olympics and the world's gaze has shifted from China once again.John F, London

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